Keys to Growth - 5

...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. Hebrews 12:1

Have you ever sat on a jumbo jet as it rumbled down the runway and wondered if it was ever going to make it into the air? As you watch those thousands of feet/metres pass below,and you think about all that luggage people put into the overhead lockers, you just pray that this runway will be long enough for this plane to get off the ground. So far we have always made it!

In a couple of weeks I am about to embark on a Christian Women Communicating International (CWCI) Central Safari. For most of that time, apart from getting to Darwin and then home from Alice Springs, the speaker and I will be travelling in a small Bible Society, single engine aircraft, something that I became quite accustomed to during our time in Papua New Guinea many years ago.

I have been informed by our pilot that I may take only 15 kgs of luggage....including my handbag!! For me to be able to do that I am going to have to offload some things that I would normally take on a trip. My hairdryer will not be one of them! The thing is the weight is critical to an effective and safe flight.

When we come into the Christian life we often come with loads of 'luggage'. This can include habits that are harmful, unforgiveness towards people who have hurt us, attitudes towards ourselves which hinder our progress in life or lies that we believe to be truth, that cause us to stumble over and over again. For example, "I am not good enough", "I deserved the abuse I went through", "It must be my fault", "I will never be good enough", "I have to deserve God's love/favour"... and so on.

We come with twisted thinking which has resulted from what life has served up to us. It is like excess luggage what we need to rid ourselves of. It is important because those thoughts and attitudes hinder us and cause us to sin. Did it ever occur to you that your thought life can be just as sinful as your actions? Thinking that you are no good or not good enough will cause you to be held back from your destiny. It will prevent you from properly appreciating and receiving God's grace, which is freely given to you, not because of how good or bad you are (Ephesians 2:8-9).
 
Yes, the "sin that so easily trips us up" can so easily be coming from how we perceive ourselves. Perhaps this is why there are many who sit in church faithfully each week but never venture out to participate in building God's kingdom. We are loved by God, gifted for His purposes in this world, an overcomer because we are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37). Get your thinking sorted out and in line with God's word and start to live the way he planned for you to live. Abundantly! Come on, it's time to lift off!

Prayer: Lord God, forgive me for allowing wrong thinking about You and about me to hinder my usefulness in Your kingdom. Help me to know how to apply Your truth to my life and walk in the joy and freedom of Your grace in a way that brings You glory.

Keys to Growth - 4

Continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, ..... not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard.. Colossians 1:23

This is not a creepy Australian insect, but a wayward sweet potato that 'jumped ship 'in my pantry cupboard. It separated itself from the rest of the potatoes and got missed until today.  I figured it was a good illustration in our growth series of something that, even though it was in a dark place, with no soil to grow in, and no one around for 'fellowship', it still sent out shoots to grow.  Now I know this illustration has some 'holes in it' I want to use it today to illustrate and enforce the previous Daydrops on letting the word of God dwell in us richly. 

If we will study and embrace the word of God and allow it to become a part of us, we will have a store of nutrients on which to feed if ever the time comes when we are cut off from fellowship with other Christians for one reason or another.

The Bible tells us that we should not give up meeting together with other Christians (Hebrews 1:25).  We need fellowship and good Bible teaching to keep us on the right track.  It is too easy to become deceived and unbalanced and unbiblical in our beliefs without good fellowship and teaching.  However, sometimes circumstances arise where we  become unable to be with others.  It may be a dark place of separation through incarceration.  There are many Christians imprisoned for their faith and cut off from their families and churches, even from their Bibles, but if they have stored God's word in their heart, the Holy Spirit is then able to bring scriptures back to their mind to encourage, bless and strengthen them. (John 14:26). Don't forget to pray for these dear ones (Hebrews 13:3).

There may come times when sickness or travelling or something else takes you out of routine and fellowship.  I always struggled with being away from my routine of time with God and in the Word when we were on holiday.  I found it difficult to feel like I was staying connected with God, but I learned that even when I feel a bit cut off from God, He holds me and brings His word back to my mind.  The word keeps us grounded and we need to keep believing in the good news of the gospel, that we are children of the living God and no one can pluck us out of his hand and we continue to trust in Him, (John 10:29). 

Let the word of God dwell in you richly so that you can remain grounded and steadfast in your faith.

Prayer:  Precious Lord, thank you for your word which is such a strength and encouragement to me in difficult times.  Help me to allow it rightful place and space in my heart and mind so that it can keep me steadfast and grounded in faith.  Amen

Keys To Growth - 3

....let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Colossians 3:16

I think I was only 9 years old when I asked for a Bible for Christmas. (I got it.) This desire can have only been Holy Spirit born because my family were not active Christians although my sister and I always went to Sunday School and our parents would generally attend church on Family Service days every month. 

When I was 13 I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour and then began my real journey in God's word.  I used the Scripture Union Daily Bread devotional notes for years and their key verse was Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  I believed it, and though I had no significant personal discipling or strong teaching in church until in my 20s I tried faithfully to read and understand God's word.

One of the joys of my life is weekly Bible Study with a group of wonderful ladies.  Whoever thought that studying God's word could be such fun and cause so many laughs along the way.  It is also a wonderful time of developing loving, supportive relationships.  Ladies, I thank God for each of you!

This verse from Colossians 3 has certainly been a 'life verse' for me.  I am so glad that I have studied the word in my early years because I found that I now have a 'storehouse' of scripture within me which is so useful.  As I write these devotionals, scripture verses often just come to mind.  I can't always remember where they are from but I can use a concordance (usually www.blueletterbible.org on line), and I can locate them.

God's word teaches us how to grow in so many ways.  It is our handbook of how to do life successfully.  It is nourishment for our spiritual life which will challenge us and help us grow as healthy disciples of Jesus Christ.  The only way for the Word to dwell richly in us, is for us to make it a part of our daily routine and to meditate upon it and allow it to change us.  It is also good to have this word come up in our spirit when we are around people who need a word of encouragement.

If you are not a part of a Bible Study group, I would thoroughly recommend it.  If there's not one near you, why not start one and you might find a wonderful source of fellowship and strength in your community as I did.  We use the Know Your Bible Studies (KYB) which delve into the word and make us think and apply the scriptures to daily life.  They are available in many languages.  If you want to know more you can email me.

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for your Word which guides me through this life.  Please increase my desire to have it dwelling richly in me, not only to cause growth in me but to be a well from which I can draw encouragement for others too.  Amen

Keys To Growth - 2

.....know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness do God.  Ephesians 3:19

Just this week I heard it stated  in a TV segment that something like 60% of women (interviewed) said that they didn't like their husbands to see them without makeup; that they sleep at night "with their face on".  Now I didn't laugh too much about that or think that it was ridiculous because early in my marriage I was the same.  I got over it, probably after getting sick of trying to get lipstick off the pillowcase, but it took me many more years to get over other people seeing me without makeup.  I don't think I'm fully over it still!  There I've exposed my insecurity!  Why are we like this?  Because we think people will think less of us if they see 'the real me'.  That is so untrue.  When they see us they won't feel so bad about themselves!!  Golly I'm being naughty today!  To all women who wear no makeup......hooray for you!

 

We can be like the 'can't see me with out makeup women' with God.  We can 'hide' from him in different ways, thinking that he won't like what he sees.  Actually, the truth is we can't hide so don't bother trying.  He sees it all and loves us in spite of our junk.  

 

I think that is why Paul admonishes us in today's scripture to 'know the love of God that passes knowledge.' He says that God's love surpasses our understanding. I think that means that we will never fully understand it, but we should delve into the truth of it and allow it to become imbedded in our thinking.  Why is it so important that we believe and embrace the truth of God's love for us?  I believe it is because it fulfils our basic human need for acceptance, validation and to know that we are loved just as we are.

I am thrilled to find that there is a whole new generation of Christians rising up who have embraced the love and grace of God in such a way that it is changing the way they take the message of the gospel into the world.  They don't go and preach on street corners, or give out tracts, they go out with the specific purpose of loving people where they are at, and offering words of encouragement and validation.  Isn't this what Jesus did? He mixed with the outcasts, not the religious.  He didn't preach to them, he loved them and accepted them and healed them.

We know that the world is looking for love in all the wrong places.  We cannot and must not just sit back and acknowlege that and do nothing.  We have the power to change lives, one at a time. When we embrace and understand the love of God for ourselves we will be secure enough and fully equipped to go out into our world and love on others.  It's just that simple.  Let's go do it!

Prayer:  Father God, thank you for loving me in spite of my imperfections.  Thank you for laying down your life for me while I was still a sinner.  Help me to embrace the truth of your love so deeply that it will produce a life-changing flow of love from me to a loveless world. Amen

Keys to Growth- 1

That Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17

It seems like we are still in gardening mode! This is not a picture of anything I have grown. My attempt to grow vegetables was in those new style corrugated iron, above ground gardens. I was very excited at the prospect of picking dinner vegetables from the garden, but I lost the battle. It seemed to be a lot of work for too little return in our case. More of that later.

For anything to grow it must start with something - a seed, a bulb or a cutting.  The Christian faith is the same.  It must start with something, that something is the seed of trust. We put our trust in God's loving gift of Jesus Christ and Christ's sacrifice, in our place, for our sins.  When we do that, we have the beginnings of a new life, the spiritual life.  Our spirit becomes alive to God and so then we have something to develop and grow. 

It is helpful to know that there has been a time in my life when I have invited Jesus Christ into my heart as Lord and Saviour.  It's not about church attendance or being good or never hurting anyone.  It's about trusting that through Christ I have received the unconditional love of God, cleansing from sin, and that is my only qualification for eternal life when I die.  It is all about faith.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  It is as simple as that.  If you can't remember doing it, why not do it now.

To get a plant growing it needs nutrients and water.  The problem with my garden boxes was that   I couldn't keep enough water to the plants.  The ground always seemed dry.  When we dug the ground over we found wads of fine root growth.  The very clever eucalypt trees, big ones, nearby had developed a source of water in my gardens and were robbing the vegetables.  Result- poor growth.

A Christian's nutrition comes through reading God's word and getting to know the nature of God and what a Christian life should look like.  It's like getting to know 'the family guidelines'.  We also need the fellowship of other Christians and good Bible teaching to help us grow. Given these conditions, we can't help but grow and develop.

The verse above in Ephesians speaks about our roots needing to go down deep into God's love and this will make us strong.  When we know that we are loved with an everlasting love, and accepted with an unconditional love we will become secure and ready to produce good fruit for God's Kingdom.  This is the first part of our discipleship process.  Becoming a Christian is not the end, it is only the beginning of an exciting and fulfilling life journey. 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for new life in you. Thank you for your great love for me. Help me to be committed to growth and fruitfulness for your Kingdom.   Amen

Growth

  ........ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

Increasingly in the past few months I have been drawn to notice how natural it is for plants to grow. Recently a young Grevillea shrub near our driveway had been snapped off a few centimetres above the ground.  Now, a month later, it has lots of new growth bursting out.  Some other plants that I wanted to divide into more than one head suffered at my hand, being topped by my secateurs and they have obligingly sprouted either side of the main stem now.  Growth can't help but happen if the circumstances are right.  Pruning caused double growth!

On the other hand, Colin found a beautiful rose when we were enjoying a cooling swim in a river when we were on holiday.  It was on a good stem with leaves. I took it back to the caravan and enjoyed it's beauty for our last couple of days then decided I would cut it back and bring it home to plant, which I did.  After a week of good conditions, just the right amount of water and sun it started to sprout and soon had little leaves, much to my joy.  Then in my desire to encourage it even more I over watered it and it drowned!  I was devastated.

Christians have the inbuilt propensity for spiritual growth given the right conditions.  Growth is part of God's plan and purpose for us.  We do, however, have to have the right conditions.  I thought I would list some for you to mull over, not necessarily in any order.

• That Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17
• .. know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16
• Continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard..  Colossians 1:23
• ...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. Hebrews 12:1
•  .... if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. 1 John 1:7
• Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4
• ....let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 1John 4:7
• I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, thank you that you have given clear directions in your word for my growth, but that the key is just resting in You, because without that I can do nothing.  Amen

•  

Foundations - 3



Stand therefore, having tightened the belt of truth around your loins....  Ephesians 6:14

Have you ever experienced the frustration of trying to have a relationship with someone who seems so perfect, has it all together, has an answer for every situation and never seems to make a mistake? It is almost impossible and very discouraging.  I tried to be that kind of person because I felt that's what God wanted.  It was about performance and it was not helpful to anyone, especially not to me or my family.

When I learned how to laugh at myself I allowed myself to make mistakes and life became so much easier.  It's good that I learned that a few years ago because I really need to be able to do that more and more these days. Those of my contemporaries will know what I mean!  Mistakes seem to happen so often.

I discovered (from Kris Vallotten in his book Spirit Wars, and checked it out for myself) that when Paul speaks about the belt of truth in Ephesians 6:14, the word 'truth' not only refers to God's word, but in a subjective sense it means 'truthfulness not only in our speaking but sincerity and integrity of character'.  Truthfulness is an important foundation in our life.

Truth is not only about the words we speak but the actions of our lives - how we present ourselves to others.  Many people hide, like I did, behind a wall of perfection or high performance.  They are afraid that to show themselves otherwise is to be vulnerable to rejection.  The opposite is more often true.  We frighten people off with our perfectness because they feel they can never be good enough for us. 

Others hide behind a wall of privacy, afraid to let anyone see what they are really like.  Their 'truth' is, "I've been hurt before, I'm not going to let you hurt or reject me."  As soon as you try to get close to them the wall goes up and you find yourself shut out, confused and frustrated that you can't have a real relationship with that person you really like a lot.

It takes courage to be vulnerable.  It also takes being able to receive and be comfortable in the truth of God's unconditional and unending love for us, because when we feel secure in His love we can love others and allow them into our lives. 

Loving Father, please show me if I have walls of protection in my life that prevent me from having meaningful relationships with others.  Help me to have the belt of truthfulness firmly in place in my life, trusting in you to be my protection and shield.  Forgive me for trying to protect myself.  Amen